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Digital Marketing for Small Business

Most small businesses, no matter the industry, have the same two major challenges when it comes to growing their business:

Limited time to devote to marketing.Limited budgets to allocate to marketing.

For many, marketing becomes another task taken on by business owners that never quite makes it to the top of the priority list. When juggling payroll, inventory, legal, accounting, etc., it’s easy to see why most small businesses struggle to remain consistent and progressive in their efforts. Marketing takes time – and good marketing requires strategy, planning, development, creativity, and consistency. Like anything else, you get out of it what you put into it – but you don’t have to spend big dollars to get great results. The digital world has leveled the playing field for small businesses with many campaigns starting at only $500 per month. Most businesses spend more every month on entertainment!

The first step is really understanding which tools are best suited for your business. This is where an expert digital marketing consultant comes in. It’s not enough to work with a general marketer. Digital marketing is very different from other forms of media and requires consistent training and development in the field. At the rate of change in technology, digital marketing consultants are constantly training, advancing their skills, testing new tools, analyzing data, and developing new strategies. This expertise ensures that your campaign reaches qualified leads, engages them, and ultimately converts them as a new customer. Without it, campaign dollars are inefficiently spent and results suffer. Below are 5 amazing digital tools to market and grow your business.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization has become one of the most important marketing tools for business due to consumer purchasing behaviors. In today’s world, many people take their purchasing research to Google before ever contacting a business. Consumers today are very empowered by the internet and generally research their purchase and the companies that provide it extensively before the business even knows they are in the market to make a purchase. SEO is a crucial component to marketing campaigns. On average, 90% of Google searches never make it to page 2 and 53% of them go to the first listing. This makes SEO a highly valuable marketing tactic that generates a robust Return on Investment (ROI).

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search Engine Marketing has been utilized by businesses for years but still has not gone fully mainstream. SEM incorporates many different methods, including video ads, banner ads, retargeting, shopping ads, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and more. PPC is a highly effective tool for businesses due to the methodology behind it. When we look at how consumers are making purchasing decisions, most people start their purchase journey on Google, researching the product or service they’re interested in. By targeting keywords associated with your product/service, we can target only people who are actively looking for you! Even better, you only pay when they click through to your website. PPC boasts an average 2:1 return on investment! When executed properly, this tool has the power to significantly grow your business!

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Social Media Marketing has taken the world by storm over the last year! Advancements in technology allow business to target their demographic in a way no other marketing tool can! Social media, specifically Facebook and Instagram, has collected such intimate data on us for so long, it knows when we’re expecting a baby, getting married or in the market for a home or a vehicle. It also knows our job titles, our family structure, our interests, and it uses algorithms (very complex mathematical formulas) to make predictions about our behavior. This allows marketers to target your demographic hyper-specifically, leading to higher rates of engagement, higher conversions, and higher return on investment! The kicker? It is one of the most cost-efficient ways to market your business, with rates landing between $7 and $10 for every 1,000 people you reach with your advertisement – and remember, these are only people who fit your specific demographic, so no ad waste!

Content Marketing

In digital marketing, content is king. What is content? Content is used to describe any digital assets you create. This can include photography, videography, graphic design, blogs and more. Producing great content has taken the place of sales-y advertising gimmicks. People no longer want to be sold, they want to do business with businesses they feel add value to their lives, businesses they connect with. It’s crucial for businesses to understand their audience. Who are they? Age, gender, interests, geographic location? And more personally, what are their needs, what are their fears, what makes them happy, how can you help them? People don’t want to be sold, but they love to be helped. Understanding your consumer personas can inspire truly engaging, helpful and relevant content that brings people back to your business over and over again!

Email Marketing:

Does your business capture contact information from leads and customers? If not, you’re missing a huge opportunity! A June 2016 survey of US marketers conducted by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and Demand Metric found that email marketing has a median Return on Investment (ROI) of 122%. Email marketing can be used to share special offers, introduce products, collect customer feedback, request reviews and so much more! Email is a direct line of communication with people who have already expressed interest in your product or service so it’s easy to see why it has become such a valuable tool for small businesses. Although many business owners fear emails go to spam or go unopened, working with a digital marketing professional greatly improves open rates (how many people open your email), click through rates (how many people click through to your website) and ultimately, conversions (people taking action with your business)!

With these tools available and affordable for every business, there has never been a better time to grow your business! Contact our digital marketing professionals today and put the life force back in your business: Ciao@BiQiMarketing.com.